ANSI/ASAE EP446.

3 APR2008
Loads Exerted by Irish Potatoes in Shallow Bulk Storage
Structures

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ANSI/ASAE EP446.3 APR2008
Revision approved as an American National Standard May 2008
Loads Exerted by Irish Potatoes in Shallow Bulk Storage
Structures
Developed under the direction of the SE-202 Committee of the ASAE
Structures Group; approved by the ASAE Structures and Environment
Division Standards Committee; adopted by ASAE as a Data February
1985; reconfirmed December 1989; revised and reclassified as an
Engineering Practice August 1990; revised November 1995; approved as
an American National Standard December 1995; reaffirmed January
2001; reaffirmed by ANSI January 2001; reaffirmed by ASABE February
2006; reaffirmed by ANSI March 2006; editorial revision September 2006;
revised April 2008; revision approved by ANSI May 2008.
Keywords: Loads, Potatoes, Pressure, Storage
1 Purpose and scope
1.1 This practice provides guidelines from which designers may
calculate loads on vertical and inclined walls, partitions, bin fronts, ducts,
and appurtenances that are to resist lateral pressure of potatoes stored
in bulk. These guidelines may be modified for specific, unique load
conditions.
1.2 This practice is for bins that are wider than deep ( B H ) and not
deeper than 5.5 m (18 ft) (see figure 1 for explanation of symbols).
1.3 This practice is for bins in which length ( L ) is greater than width ( B ).
1.4 This practice applies to maximum potato pressures measured in
full-sized bins. These occurred with wet potatoes.
1.5 Other types of structural loads are listed in the following standards:
ASAE EP475, ASAE EP378.3, ASAE EP538 and ASAE EP545.
2 Normative references
The following standards contain provisions which, through reference in
this text, constitute provisions of this Engineering Practice. At the time of
publication, the editions indicated were valid. All standards are subject to
revision, and parties to agreements based on this Engineering Practice
are encouraged to investigate the possibility of applying the most recent
editions of the standards indicated below. Standards organizations
maintain registers of currently valid standards.
2.1 ASAE EP475.1 JAN01, Design and Management of Storages for
Bulk, Fall-Crop Irish Potatoes
2.2 ASAE EP378.3 FEB04, Floor and Suspended Loads on Agricultural
Structures Due to Use
2.3 ASAE EP538 DEC1996, Design Loads for Bunker (Horizontal) Silos
Figure 1 Bin layout with symbol representation showing dimensions and
angle of internal friction (repose). (See clauses 1, 4, 5 and 6
for explanation of symbols)
ASABE STANDARDS 2008 ANSIASAE EP446.3 APR2008
2.4 ANSI/ASAE EP545 MAR1995, Loads Exerted by Free-Flowing
Grains on Shallow Storage Structures
3 Terminology
3.1 potatoes, dry: Potatoes put into the bin under normal harvesting
moisture conditions without being sprayed with water and/or chemical
fungicide or rained on.
3.2 potatoes, wet: Potatoes that have been sprayed with water and/or
chemical fungicide or have been rained on during bin filling operations.
3.3 storage, potato: A structure designed and constructed for storing
potatoes in bulk.
4 Nomenclature
h is overall height of potato pile, m (ft)
z is distance below top of potato pile, m (ft)
g is acceleration due to gravity, 9.81 m/s2 (1 lbf/lbm)
m is mass of the product per unit volume, kg/m3 ( lbm/ft3)
Ka is active pressure ratio of lateral to vertical stress
C is vertical distance from bottom of pile to the resultant force of
the pressure p
H is height of bin wall, m (ft)
p is perpendicular pressure caused by the potato pile acting on
the wall per unit area of vertical wall surface, kPa (lbf/ft2)
S is summation of frictional force from potato pile acting on the
wall surface and in a direction parallel to the wall surface for
a unit height of wall, kN/m (lbf/ft)
W is resultant of the wall pressure, p , from potatoes, acting
perpendicular to wall face, for a unit length of wall, kN/m
(lbf/ft)
is angle included between bin wall and bin floor, which is
covered with potatoes, degrees
is internal angle of friction of the stored material, degrees
is angle of friction between the stored material and the wall,
degrees
= tan is coefficient of friction between wall surface and stored
potatoes, at rest, dimensionless
5 General design information
5.1 angle, inclined wall (): This normally is less than or equal to 90
degrees and greater than .
5.2 density, bulk (m): The bulk density of potatoes may range from
625 kg/m3 (39 lb/ft3) to 700 kg/m3 (44 lb/ft3). Large potatoes [greater
than 89 mm (3.5 in.) diameter] with a low specific gravity of 1.050 may
reach the smaller bulk density value. Small potatoes [less than 50 mm
(2.0 in.) diameter] with a high specific gravity of 1.100 may reach the
larger bulk density value. A bulk density of 670 kg/m3 (42 lb/ft3) is
normally used for field-run potatoes.
5.3 friction, angle of internal (): For potatoes, the angle of internal
friction, , is approximated in practice as the filling angle of repose of the
product (see figure 1) and may range from 26 to 36. An average value
is 32.
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 Figure 3 Free body diagrams of bin wall (See clause 4 for explanation of
symbols)

6.1.3 Calculate pressure ratio K a by equation (2)

K a sin2 9032 / sin90 sin90sin32 2 0.3073
Figure 2 Typical measured potato pressure curve with calculated pres- 6.1.4 Calculate pressures
sures, ( p ), for a shallow bin Pressure at depth z by equation (1)
p z 0.3073 x 9.81 x 670 x z
5.4 friction, static, coefficient for surface (): Use values for the 2020z N/m2
static coefficient of friction shown in table 1.
5.5 wall pressure: Potato pressure normal to the bin wall at depth z , 2.02z kN/m2
p ( z ), is given as an equivalent liquid pressure Pressure at bottom of wall, z h
p z Ka m g z (1) p h 2.02 x 4.89.70 kN/m2
The active pressure ratio K a is 6.1.5 Find total lateral force (equation 3):
W p h h /2
sin2
K a 9.70 x 4.8/2
sin sin sin 2 (2)
Figure 2 compares a typical measured pressure loading and an 23.3 kN/m
equivalent liquid pressure loading calculated by equation (1) for a bin.
6.1.6 Find total axial force (equation 4):
For design purposes an empirically derived pressure was based on an
angle of repose of 31.5 and a density of of 670 kg/m3 (42 lbm/ft3). See SW
figure 2.
0.48 23.3
5.6 force, center of (C): The center of force, C , is one third the pile
height, h , from the bottom of the pile (see figure 3). 11.17 kN/m
6.2 Inclined wall:
C h /3
6.2.1 Given:
5.7 force, total lateral (W): Total lateral force, W , is calculated using the
following equation h pile depth4.8 m
H wall height5.4 m
W p h h /2 (3)
C center of force
where p ( h ) equals p ( z ) in equation 1 for z h
h /34.8/31.6 m
5.8 force, total axial (S): The total axial force due to the potatoes, S ,
is calculated using the following equation 75
SW (4)
Table 1 Static coefficients of wall friction for potatoes on various
6 Example calculations surfaces. Averaged for wet and dry potatoes
6.1 Vertical wall:
6.1.1 Given: Surface Coefficient,

h pile depth 4.8 m Steel, corrugated, galvanized (across corrugations) 0.70

H wall height 5.4 m Rough concrete 0.59
C center of force Potatoes 0.57
h /3 4.8/3 1.6 m Plywood (with grain) 0.52
Rubber belting 0.50
90
Smooth concrete 0.48
6.1.2 Assume: Steel, smooth, nongalvanized 0.43
m 670 kg / m 3 Steel, galvanized 0.43
32 Polyethylene sheet 0.39
0.48 (smooth concrete)

2 ANSIASAE EP446.3 APR2008 ASABE STANDARDS 2008

6.2.2 Assume: Pressure at bottom of wall, z h
m 670 kg/m3 p h 1.414 x 4.86.79 kN/m2
32 (70% of the pressure on the vertical wall)
0.48 smooth concrete 6.2.5 Find total lateral force (equation 3):
6.2.3 Calculate pressure ratio K a by equation (2) W p h h /2
K a sin 7532 / sin75 sin75sin32
2 2
6.79 x 4.8/2
0.2152
16.29 kN/m
6.2.4 Calculate pressures
6.2.6 Find total axial force (equation 4):
Pressure at depth z by equation (1)
p z 0.2152 x 9.81 x 670 x z SW

1414z N/m2 0.48 16.29

1.414z kN/m2 7.82 kN/m

Annex A potato storage wall design. Transactions of the ASAE 26(1):179184,

(informative)
Bibliography
The following documents are cited as reference sources used in devel-
opment of this Engineering Practice.
Edgar, A. D. Pressure on walls of potato storage bins. USDA, Agricultural
Marketing Service. AMS-401; 1960
Lambe, T. W. and R. V. Whitman. Soil mechanics. John Wiley and Sons;
1969
Permanent Wood Foundation System Manual. National Forest Products
Association; 1987
Powell, A. E., C. A. Pettibone and M. R. Torabi. Pressure exerted on
walls of larger bins by stored potatoes. Transactions of the ASAE
23(3):685686; 1980
Schaper, L. A. and E. C. Yaeger. Horizontal and vertical pressure
patterns of stored potatoes. Transactions of the ASAE 25(3):719724;
1982
Schaper, L. A. and E. C. Yaeger. Accuracy of equivalent fluid pressure for
187; 1983
Schaper, L. A. and E. C. Yaeger. Coefficients of friction of Irish potatoes.
Transactions of the ASAE 35(5):16471651; 1989
Schaper, L. A., K. G. Janardan, E. C. Yaeger and P. H. Orr. Mathematical
expressions for lateral potato pressures. Transactions of the ASAE
32(3):10751080; 1989
Torabi, M. R. Pressure exerted on the walls of large bins by stored
potatoes. Unpublished M.S. thesis, Washington State University,
Pullman; 1976
Willson, G. B. Lateral pressures on walls of potato storage bins. USDA,
Agricultural Research Service. ARS 5232; 1968
Yaeger, E. C. and G. L. Pratt. Instrumentation for measurement of lateral
and vertical pressures in potato storages. Transactions of the ASAE
20(6):11801184; 1977
Yaeger, E. C., L. A. Schaper and P. H. Orr. Comparison of potato pile
pressures on vertical and inclined walls. Transactions of the ASAE
30(6):18111816; 1987

ASABE STANDARDS 2008 ANSIASAE EP446.3 APR2008 3